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Faith and Politics During the 2004 Presidential campaign and in the commentary following the campaign much was said and written about faith and politics. Some claimed that the conservative right has co-opted faith and religion. Others have pointed out that there are many liberals of strong faith. There is some truth in both of these statements. I have been both a liberal Democrat and a conservative Republican. I believe that my Christian Catholic faith has been strong in both instances, and while, accepting the two rather extreme political positions, my faith did not change, though my application of it did. I do not think that any politicians or persons of any political stripe necessarily have a stronger faith than others. I do think that there is a substantial difference in the application of that faith to the politics. Most persons with differing political views and strong faiths which they practice regularly agree on issues of morality. Such can be seen by the fact that in November, 2004, all the ballot measures for state constitutional amendments in support of traditional heterosexual marriages passed with strong majorities. Such can also be seen in the fact that most people, even those who support abortion, oppose partial birth abortion in which the child is killed in the birth canal. The difference that is seen politically with persons of strong faith is primarily in the area of government programs intended to help the needy. Often the differences are ones of degree and not absolute disagreement. Such can be seen with President Bush's "compassionate conservatism" which seeks to change government programs in order to lessen their use by having such programs help people become more independent. Compassionate conservatism also seeks to have social programs with a strong faith component receive government assistance. There is no effort to eliminate such programs completely. Not all those who need assistance can be helped by private charitable programs. However, there is one very important question with which I struggled over time. As I pondered the question more and had more experience in life, I switched from liberal to conservative. Where in the Bible does Christ challenge his followers to ask the government to take money from someone else and give it to the poor? Christ always tells individuals what they must do personally, not what they are to get government to force others to do. I believe that it is this understanding which drives many Christians to conservatism. Such conservatives, however, still understand that some government programs will be necessary to provide what is missed, but know that having government as the prime means of assistance is ultimately counterproductive. In addition to some disagreement about the application of Christ's message, I think there are some insidious motives behind liberalism. As conservatism has grown stronger over the years, liberals concern about losing control of government has increased. Such concern has lead to much of the shrillness in our current political discourse. There two reasons for these liberal concerns. First, without control of government, liberals cannot control the lives of others. The need to control is one of the prime motives behind most government and some private programs. Intellectuals believe that they are smarter and can decide what others need better than those others can themselves. This can be seen in many of the arguments for socialized medicine and other government programs, such as those to require seat belts, to stop smoking and to control weight. The premise is that people are making bad choices which they should not make, and that, therefore, government must make such people act properly. Second, with the shrinking organized labor base in the private sector and the related shrinking base for liberals, the only way to replace this loss is to control government and expand government programs. With this expansion of programs comes an expansion of bureaucrats and government employee unions. Government bureaucrats and government employee union members have a stake in maintaining and growing large government in order to protect their own positions. This impetus has little to do with actually improving the efficiency and the effectiveness of government programs. Thus, control of government is essential to the strength of liberal Democrats and possibly to their very existence. Hopefully people of faith, whether liberal or conservative, will see those who have different views for applying that faith are not as evil as they are portrayed to be. At that point we can start finding common ground. Then we can stop believing that the only way to address some problems is through government action and can also stop believing that one party or the other must control government.
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